Thursday, February 6, 2014

Sunday Gospel Reflection, February 9, 2014: You are the salt of the earth...

When Jesus, in our reading from Matthew’s Gospel this
Sunday, tells his disciples that they are the
salt of the earth and light of the
world, he wants them to believe that they themselves are able to enhance
the lives of others as they bring God’s love to bear on those lives.Salt enhances flavor; light brings life.In all that we do, Jesus suggests, we are
called to live our lives for others, enhancing their lives.We are graced so that we can bring the love
of God to all we meet, by living the gospel in their midst, thus revealing
God’s love in action.

In some respects, Jesus is echoing a key idea in Isaiah,
where the Lord reveals that true social morality results in life-giving justice
for all:Share your bread with the hungry, shelter the oppressed and the
homeless, clothe the naked when you see them, and do not turn your back on your
own.We are called to live lives of
compassion, seeing the need around us, and meeting it in such a way as to
equalize the situation at hand.But it
means we can’t just talk about justice:we have to do justice, participate, act. Moreover, to be authentic, such behavior must
come from the depths of who we are, and must reflect our own openness to and
trust in God.Such a person—one who is
in right relationship with God—is described more fully in Psalm 112: s/he is gracious
(the source of grace and blessing for other), merciful, and just.When our compassion recognizes our source and
our commonality, we respond out of that commonality.We can thus be a blessing to other, and God
is revealed in us.

For Paul writing to the Corinthians, such knowledge of God is focused first and
foremost on Jesus Christ and him
crucified.The paradox of the Cross
lies in the fact that salvation comes from a criminal:the love of Jesus dying for our sins
transcends the embarrassment and humiliation of a crucified Savior.If you know this, know it not only in your
mind but in your heart, you will experience God’s love in the depths of your
being, and can only respond to the experience of such love with faith and
humility, in complete service to other.Enhancing
the lives of others, you are salt.It’s
as simple as that.